Kiri Gillespie: Future of Tauranga Racecourse plagued by dearth of details

Tauranga Golf Club and Tauranga Racecourse as viewed from air in 2008. Photo / Jimmy Joe

OPINION

Tauranga City Council would prefer to relocate the Tauranga Racecourse and use the land for a hospital and/or reserve, rather than enhance the area as is, or turn the whole area into a huge park.

Yet, despite three new racecourse site options being found, it still isn’t clear how much a potential relocation would cost, and perhaps more importantly, who would pay for it.

The council won’t reveal the locations due to “commercial confidentiality” but it’s common knowledge that Paengaroa has long been considered as a possible site.

In my view, it’s concerning relocation details such as this have not been communicated during the council’s call for feedback, especially as hearings on the project begin next month.

It reminds me of last year’s consultation on Tauranga’s civic centre upgrade when people were asked to choose between spending $303.4m or $126m, with little detail made available for the latter option.

At the time, commission chairwoman Anne Tolley told the Bay of Plenty Times, when asked about the lack of detail, that in her view the absence of concept images for the $126m option would not affect people’s preferences. People would choose an option based on the contribution they think it could bring to the CBD, she said.

Ultimately, the city’s commission chose the $303.4m option.

Now, future racecourse options are either an enhanced status quo; turning it into a Central Park-type of recreation reserve; or - the council’s choice - providing a partial reserve with provision for future health facilities.

Each option has merit.

Already, a large majority has indicated they want the racecourse to stay, however, many people I’ve spoken to casually say they prefer the large Central Park option.

I’m undecided simply because there are too few details available.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing states it wants just one racecourse for the Bay of Plenty area. Fair enough - the dwindling number of active racecourses around New Zealand suggests to me the sport doesn’t seem to accrue the same demand as in previous decades.

Given that mana whenua of Rotorua Racecourse have already expressed its desire to turn the space into housing, and the encroachment of new development on the Bay’s neighbouring Paeroa Racecourse, it seems sensible to keep the Tauranga Racecourse for the region.

However, if Tauranga Racecourse is destined to move, I believe a lot more work needs to be done to truly capture the feasibility and financial impact of relocating such a large facility.

Of course, this work could already be happening behind the closed doors of “commercial confidentiality”.

We simply don’t know. And, for me, there’s the rub.

The Tauranga community is being asked to give its views on a project that doesn’t offer all of the details.

There are more questions that need solid answers: Where will the existing racecourse users, which include a church, tai chi club and charity book fair, go? How much more will this cost them? What impact would a rural, out-of-town, location have on milestone calendar events such as the Japan Cup? Who in their right mind will travel to an area such as Paengaroa for a social day at the races? (No offence Paengaroa but you’re not exactly a cheap Uber ride home for most people.)

I could go on.

The council is due to hear submissions next month before making a decision in May on a recommendation to the Crown, which owns the land.

It’s great the council is looking towards the future but any decision to recommend relocating the racecourse without knowing how much that could cost ratepayers would be, in my view, unfair.